You can now walk around with a banana-shaped phone. That is all.

Google has just announced its Pixel 4 smartphone. Apple has recently released the iPhone 11. But let’s face it, no matter how good those phones might be, they will never be as cool as a banana phone.

After an Indigogo crowdfunding campaign, Banana Phone is released into the wild. Photo: Banana Phone

A banana phone?

Bananas are a great source of almost instant energy and they’re rich in potassium. Some people claim that bananas are the reason that the UK voted to leave the European Union. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember bananas in pyjamas.

Basically, the banana is the king of fruits. For this reason, if you want to project an image of sophistication, you need to be conducting your phone calls on a banana-shaped mobile phone.

And you’re in luck because following a successful Indigogo crowdfunding campaign, Banana Phone has launched a banana-shaped phone. Making and receiving a phone calls will never be the same again.

What is it?

Well, strictly speak it’s not actually a phone. It’s a Bluetooth device that uses your existing phone for the connection side of things in the same way that a Bluetooth headset does.

It’s compatible with both Android and iOS. So if you’ve got a Pixel 4 or iPhone 11, don’t throw it into the bin just yet because you’ll still need it.

The current model gives you ten hours of talktime between charges. Talking into a banana for pretty much the entire working day should be enough for anyone, but if you don’t think that’s going to be enough, an upgraded model is in the pipeline that will let you talk for 20 hours between charges.

As well as letting you make phone calls, it also works as a Bluetooth speaker so you can play Bananaphone on your banana phone if you feel the urge. Having said that, Banana Phone’s president Brian Brunsing admits that the phone hasn’t been designed for serious music playing and the sound quality is far from amazing.

As well as letting you make phone calls, it also works as a Bluetooth speaker so you can play Bananaphone on your banana phone if you feel the urge. Photo: Banana Phone

And it gets even better

If having a banana-shaped phone isn’t enough for you, don’t panic.

If you buy a banana phone you’ll also be saving gorillas because Banana Phone will be donating 1% of its annual sales to help fund gorilla conservation as part of its membership of 1% for the Planet.

The company will be donating towards gorilla conservation in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo via Gearing Up 4 Gorillas, a UK-based charity. Just make sure that you don’t need to make or receive a phone call when you’re near any gorillas or you might end up having your banana phone taken from you.

Each Banana phone is built with the environment in mind. Photo: Flickr

The banana phone is environmentally friendly, too. The Qualcomm processors that it uses are based on conflict-free minerals, it’s made from 100% recycled plastic and it uses fully-recyclable cardboard for its packaging.

It’s not the first, though…

There are claims that this is the first banana phone, but sadly, that title has already been taken by Nokia which launched its curved 8110 phone – which went on to be known as the banana phone – in 1996. This banana phone became iconic when Neo (Keanu Reeves) used one in The Matrix in 1999.

It’s not the second banana phone, either, because Nokia relaunched its 8110 in 2018. That relaunched banana phone was even available in yellow.

But Banana Phone’s banana phone is the first banana phone that actually looks like a banana. And that got to be worth the $40 that the company is asking for it.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.